Chapter 56: You’re Like a Kitten

The consequence of bullying a human was getting bullied by that human. Lin Jiangye deeply understood that today.

Although he had worked himself into a state of heat all over, and still could not completely dispel it, Lin Jiangye did not regret it. Because the way Yu Wangxiao looked when he was fierce was actually very easy to bully too… There was a unique charm to it that could not be shared with outsiders. It truly made him dizzy with how delicious he smelled.

After resting for half a day in the deserted snowy mountain forest, kissing and cuddling, comfortably taking an afternoon nap, and finally taking a few nice photos, it was about time to pack up and leave.

Chen Ming was still their driver. Planes could not enter the deep mountains, so he drove the rental car prepared in advance and arrived on time at the wide-open lakeshore.

Seeing that the married couple was still dawdling, he leisurely packed himself a bowl of clean snow, planning to make a dessert ice cream to try later.

Ten minutes later, Lin Jiangye carried a heavy bag in each hand, weighed them to make sure they would not fall apart, and stuffed all the packed camping equipment into the trunk.

“Uncle Chen, did anyone follow you? Does the engine sound okay? Do the brake pads feel stuck?” After working for half a day, Lin Jiangye was still overflowing with energy. The moment he got in the car, he began worrying about safety.

“Don’t worry, Young Master Lin. I checked carefully. Everything’s fine. The Dong City hideout was cleaned up very quickly, and many people were arrested. I went to report to the police today, and they said the main force now has to cross provinces to chase the remaining fugitives. Dong City has actually become peaceful.”

Chen Ming, who had just finished eating snow, was also in a good mood. On the way out of the mountain, he talked about many things he had seen and heard. He even served as half a tour guide, explaining Dong City’s geography and food culture to the inexperienced Lin Jiangye.

Lin Jiangye listened with great interest and enjoyed the freshness of it. This was a world the original book’s plot had never described. Almost not even half a stroke of ink had been spent on it, yet it had developed such vivid vitality on its own.

Perhaps all humans who were not controlled by the plot could actually do this? Within limited life and a limited world, a free community could be rich in creative ability, living vibrantly in the way they wanted.

At least Dong City’s local specialties made him eat very happily. Even the next few hours of a long-distance flight did not seem dull, because he was eating the entire time.

Yu Wangxiao chose to let him be, and even bought extra portions of the food he had praised. He had long since gradually adapted to Lin Jiangye’s increasingly terrifying appetite.

After all, Lin Jiangye’s digestive function was very simple. He could absorb energy efficiently and quickly like pressing sugarcane. As for the energy human food could provide him… at this point, it was like eating a few grains of white sugar.

After eating and drinking his fill, the thick night curtain covered the sky. The sound of the plane engine was somewhat hypnotic.

The lights in the cabin slowly dimmed into a soft warm yellow. Lin Jiangye changed into pajamas and lay on Yu Wangxiao’s lap playing with his phone. At first, he looked quite happy, but the more he played, the more annoyed he became.

Only a few days had passed, and the Lin family was already having conflicts again. Lin Yu insisted on sending messages to live-broadcast the situation to him.

Apparently, Lin Jingyao had not dared to return home recently, because Qiu Zhen was clearing out the bedrooms. She had emptied out all the rooms belonging to the brothers and was renovating them. She had not even mentioned it beforehand. In short, her attitude was very subtle.

Lin Yu’s room was also gone. For the time being, he tucked his tail between his legs in front of his biological mother and simply took Lin Jingyao to live at the company every day. He originally had not intended to quarrel, but this morning, when he went home to get some clothes, he unexpectedly discovered that Qiu Zhen was consulting a lawyer about adoption procedures…

That was right. Qiu Zhen had decided to adopt a few children, especially older children from welfare homes, or children with chronic illnesses who needed expensive treatment—children who were already very difficult for ordinary families to adopt.

According to Qiu Zhen, she now very much wanted to be a “normal” mother again, to wholeheartedly raise “normal” children again, and to atone for the damage Lin Bingsheng had caused. After all, none of the children in her own family were normal, which was the result of both husband and wife’s shared dereliction of duty.

Lin Yu was so angry at her firm attitude that he nearly fainted backward. Perhaps there was also a trace of… panic at no longer being placed in his mother’s eyes, no longer being acknowledged by his mother.

He finally could not help losing his temper and arguing loudly with Qiu Zhen, but Qiu Zhen blocked him with two indifferent sentences.

“Your father’s inheritance won’t be short of your share. If you want to use it to support Lin Jingyao, that’s none of my business. But how I handle my shares, and how I distribute my assets… Lin Yu, that is not something you should be concerned about. Even if I want to leave them to the children I adopt, it still won’t be your or his turn to worry.”

Lin Yu truly broke down. Unable to find a suitable person to vent to, he specially sent Lin Jiangye a voice call and frantically poured out his emotions. “Who would lack that bit of lousy money?! What kind of person does she think I am? I have hands and feet, when have I ever relied on my parents, when have I ever coveted money? Haven’t I always been the one working in the company?”

Lin Jiangye listened with a frown, then replied faintly, “Actually, she was subtly mocking your Xiao Yao, not saying you rely on your parents.”

“Huh? Why?”

“Lin Yu, even my emotional intelligence isn’t that good, so why do you usually seem even dumber than me?” Lin Jiangye could not help sitting up to roast him. Amid Yu Wangxiao’s unconcealed light laughter, he silently held his forehead. “You have this flaw. You like to subconsciously throw cause and effect to the back of your mind, instinctively ignore what you don’t want to accept, and only see what you want to see. You’re stubborn to death… Are you the human, or am I the human?”

The other end of the call was silent for a long time. Lin Yu’s voice slowly fell from the sky back to the ground.

“…I’m human. You’re not. I know. I’ve been working hard to accept that. Don’t be angry. Our family has become like this now. We can’t afford to lose anyone else. Mom has feelings for you, and she’ll have feelings for Xiao Yao too. Even if it’s just raising a potted flower, after twenty years, there’ll still be feelings. Humans are like that. Her not being able to accept it all at once doesn’t mean those feelings don’t exist. Anyway… sigh, I’ll think it through properly.”

Lin Jiangye sighed. “That sounds much more normal, but you’d better think it through more clearly, because I really am not your biological brother. I’m really not. That’s it. I’m on a plane.”

After hanging up, having barely resolved one family issue, Lin Jiangye still had not finished reading the messages on his phone.

Some were from Gu Jiu’an. A few lines of concern, a few carefully worded apologies, reminders to keep warm while traveling, and mention of the end-of-term group assignment, telling Lin Jiangye to remember to prepare in advance.

Opening this chat box beside Yu Wangxiao actually made sweat run down his back… But ever since Yu Wangxiao learned that Lin Jiangye had beaten Gu Jiu’an up, his attitude had become much gentler, and he no longer took Gu Jiu’an seriously at all.

According to Yu Wangxiao—when he wore a suit, he looked like he was awkwardly pretending to be an adult playing house. When it came to feelings, he looked like he was acting in a campus romance novel. The atmosphere seemed sorrowful and melancholic, but in reality, he had never made any substantial or effective pursuit. Who knew what he was sad about? He was still a child. Forget it. Just don’t hit people next time.

After hearing that, Lin Jiangye was greatly shocked. At the same time, he discovered with horror that if Yu Wangxiao wanted to verbally attack someone, his offensive power would be terrifyingly strong. It was practically equivalent to mental magic.

At least from then on, whenever Lin Jiangye thought of Gu Jiu’an, a sad melodramatic short-drama soundtrack inexplicably echoed in his head, making it impossible to look at him directly.

Yu Wangxiao was too bad.

Lin Jiangye did not want to think about it again. He braced himself and replied a few words, just as he was preparing to force himself to fall asleep, when a push notification popped up on his screen and suddenly made him alert.

“Eh? Yu Wangxiao, look. Nancheng is holding a big-eater hot dog contest tomorrow. The setup looks pretty grand. The champion prize is actually twenty thousand. If I go eat, I’ll definitely win.”

Yu Wangxiao glanced at it and thoughtfully picked up his phone.

[Alipay received: 200,000 yuan.]

Lin Jiangye: “…”

“We are not eating that junk food.” Yu Wangxiao rubbed his head and said seriously.

“We ate so many rocks today, and tomorrow we still have to eat rocks from two cities. That should count as junk food, right?”

Lin Jiangye pulled him down to lie on the bed together, complaining while quietly putting away his phone in case Yu Wangxiao wanted to transfer money to himself again. “I don’t understand how I exploded into so many pieces before. They’re much harder to eat than hot dogs.”

Yu Wangxiao did indeed lie down, but became even more serious. His warm and gentle tone seemed like he was coaxing someone, yet it carried dissatisfaction that Lin Jiangye could completely understand. “We also cannot call ourselves junk food.”

“…Okay.” Lin Jiangye coughed lightly. “Every time you care especially about these details, you seem very cute, but also a little scary.”

“To me, scary is also a compliment. Does your stomach still feel uncomfortable?”

Yu Wangxiao gently held him, not caring at all about the weak protest in Lin Jiangye’s words. His warm fingertips lifted the hem of Lin Jiangye’s clothes and slid in along his waist, his palm slowly pressing against his stomach, rubbing and touching.

Now Lin Jiangye did not want to protest at all. He narrowed his eyes comfortably and relaxed, spreading himself out like a pancake. “It doesn’t hurt. You’re so good at this… It’s over. Just being touched by you makes me happy.”

“I’m also very happy. Tuantuan, you’re like a little cat.” Only after the words left his mouth did Yu Wangxiao realize what he had said. His movements quietly paused, then he continued touching him as if nothing had happened.

Lin Jiangye chuckled. “Mm, then next time I’ll wear cat ears and let you play. Do you want to see?”

“…Mm.”

“Yu Wangxiao, don’t answer vaguely. Do you want to see it or not?”

“…I want to.”

***

The next few days were very packed. After all, this was a straight-line journey across the entire country.

From south to north, every hiding place Lin Bingsheng had chosen had meaning. Although the scenery was indeed beautiful and pleasant, they were still mountain valleys and remote areas rarely visited by people. On the road, they also had to guard against malicious retaliation from fugitive suspects, so it was not that easy.

There was nothing they could do. Ever since Yu Wangxiao’s face had been swept over by a livestream camera on the cruise ship, it had gained some fame. As long as a passerby glanced at him, locating him would be quite easy, especially attracting the attention of desperate suspects.

Lin Jiangye cared quite a lot about this matter and specifically kept track of the number of stalkers, people attempting to damage their vehicles, and people who sneakily slipped into the airport’s temporary parking bay, wanting to pour cold water onto the top of their plane.

Pouring water on a plane in winter was an extremely vicious way of murder. As long as the pilot and ground crew were even slightly negligent before takeoff, they might ignore the completely transparent thin layer of frost on the plane roof. During flight, the ice could break apart and fall into the engine. In serious cases, it could even cause fatal engine explosions at high altitude.

Lin Jiangye had not known until he counted. Once he counted, he was startled. As they passed through several cities, and as the meteorite fragments he ate increased, there were actually more and more people resorting to desperate measures like sneaking into airports to kill Yu Wangxiao.

Lin Bingsheng might have paid them wages and arranged backup plans. There might also still be unwilling people on the Gu family’s side stirring in the dark. But this was the age of surveillance. Every suspect who entered the airport could not possibly leave successfully.

Especially those who had personally participated in trafficking and harming children—once caught, they could forget about leaving prison. Their charges would be severe enough, and no lawyer would dare offend Yu Wangxiao by defending them in court.

So, why?

With both Lin Bingsheng and Gu Yuan having died miserably, why were more and more insects in the dark still crawling out, insisting on doing these thankless things?

“I’m asking you. Why?”

In the outskirts of North City, deep inside a snowy forest.

Lin Jiangye had personally caught a young man who had sneakily come to slash their tires, only to be caught red-handed on the spot.

He looked about fifteen or sixteen, with dyed yellow hair and the name of some unknown girl tattooed on his face, along with several big hearts and blue tears… Judging by his face alone, he actually looked quite honest, only a bit stupid, insisting on making himself look “very cool.”

The young man was lifted off the ground by Lin Jiangye gripping his collar. The strong suffocating sensation from the collar choking his neck scared him out of his wits, and he almost burst into tears on the spot.

“…Wuwuwu, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it… Big Brother, I was wrong, cough cough… I won’t dare again, never again!”

“So why did you come to slash the tires?” Lin Jiangye frowned and asked, shaking him a little. “Now that your boss has been arrested and no one is paying you anymore, you, a temporary worker in charge of chopping vegetables, still want to shed blood for the great cause of the farmhouse business?”

Considering that this child had not done anything truly heinous, and had known nothing about the truth of the farmhouse, Lin Jiangye had already held back. Before the conversation, he had only beaten him up a little, and barely still had the patience to communicate with him.

But even an ordinary chopping assistant had come to slash their tires. That made the matter even more strange.

The young man cried even harder, and he also looked bewildered. “I don’t know, wuwuwu… Big Brother, I was wrong. I just acted on impulse. For some reason, my brain got hot and I lost my head… When I saw you, I suddenly got muddled and followed you with a blade. I didn’t think about anything else!”

“Acted on impulse, brain got hot, lost your head, muddled…” Lin Jiangye narrowed his eyes and repeated the four key phrases, then handed the trembling guy to Chen Ming.

“Uncle Chen, please throw him into the trunk. Later, we must send him to the police uncle for education.”

“Alright!”

Chen Ming smiled and rolled up the sleeves of his sweater, deliberately exposing his strong muscles in the middle of winter, making the young man’s face turn even paler. He could not wait to crawl into the trunk himself and very sensibly curled up into a small ball.

Yu Wangxiao was brewing tea at the other end of the camp. North City’s high-mountain white tea was quite famous, able to withstand the invasion of bitter cold snowy weather and high altitude, with an excellent flavor.

Before the tire-slasher appeared, they had casually picked a bag to bring back to A City to play around with. The finished tea had also been placed into a lidded bowl, ready to be tasted while they had the chance.

“Was he targeting you or me?” Hearing Lin Jiangye’s footsteps stepping through the snow, Yu Wangxiao asked without raising his head.

Lin Jiangye’s expression was not very good. He sat down, picked up the scalding hot teacup, and drank it in one gulp, immediately receiving Yu Wangxiao’s faintly reproachful gaze.

“Drink slowly and taste it carefully.” He poured Lin Jiangye another half cup. “If something happened, talk slowly too. Don’t rush.”

“Okay, okay… I think they’re definitely here to kill you. They don’t know me.” Lin Jiangye obediently slowed down his tea drinking, his tone faint. “Yu Wangxiao, don’t leave my sight recently. Even when you go to the bathroom, I have to follow you in and watch.”

“…Hm?”

“I suspect their minds are being controlled. The previous people who were caught were the same. When they saw you, they would briefly fall into a crazed state, like their frontal lobes had suddenly exploded. Hot blood rushed to their heads. During their actions, their minds were unclear. They had no idea what they were doing and could not think of the consequences.”

Lin Jiangye was very serious, then emphasized, “Also, I can confirm that it isn’t my power. They haven’t come into contact with my corpse. Can you understand? If it isn’t my power, then it must be the power of this world… To put it abstractly, it’s like in cultivation novels, where the Heavenly Dao, which had been silent all this time, finally acts, trying to set things right.”

“Alright, I understand.” Yu Wangxiao touched the back of his cold hand and gently held it, interlacing their fingers.

Lin Jiangye exhaled and suddenly felt that human body temperature was so reassuring. For some reason, at a time like this, he was the one being comforted.

“Yu Wangxiao, this world wants you dead. The stronger I become, the more anxious it becomes.” He made himself calm down and continued in a low voice.

“Then, with you here, do I need to worry?” Yu Wangxiao put down the tea tray and met his eyes with a slight curve to his lips.

“No. You only need to let me in when you go to the bathroom. I must watch you at all times.”

Yu Wangxiao’s smile briefly disappeared for one second, then appeared again. “Then will there still be a birthday present?”

“Of course! When the time comes, we’ll stay shut in at Longjing Bay for an entire day, turn off all electronic devices, and no one will be allowed to disturb us.”

“Good. So, if only the two of us are home, can I go to the bathroom by myself?” Yu Wangxiao struggled desperately at death’s door.

“No.”

“…Tuantuan.”

“No means no!”